49 Interesting Facts About Singapore We Bet You Didn't ...

43. Despite the fact that Singapore is often referred to as a “concrete jungle”, the truth is that there is an abundance of greenery in almost every area ... English 49InterestingFactsAboutSingaporeWeBetYouDidn’tKnow! FeaturedVideo RegisteryourchildnowforourEnglishenrichmentcourseshere! Whetheryou’velivedonoursunnylittleislandfor10or50years,therearemanyinterestingthingstolearneveryday.Hereare49(+1)funfactsyouprobablyneverknewaboutSingapore! 1.Ournationalanthemisinmicro-textonthebackofthe$1000note.Havealookandsee! 2.SingaporehasthebiggestYakultbottlesinSoutheastAsia,andthemostexpensive. 3.AnyprimaryschoolstudentwillknowthestoryofSangNilaUtama,aprincefromPalembangwhosawacreaturehethoughtwasalion,anddulynamedtheislandSingapura,whichmeansLionCityinSanskrit.Buttruthbetold,therewerenolionseverinSingapore.Well,exceptnow,inthezoo. 4.Singaporeisoneofonlythreesurvivingcity-statesintheworld,becausewedon’thaveacapital.TheothertwoareMonacoandtheVaticanCity. 5.PopularcablechannelCartoonNetworkinitiallythoughtSingaporewasinMalaysia.It’strue,SingaporeansareoftenmistakentobefromMalaysiaorChinawhentravellingoverseas. 6.Wearethefastestwalkersontheplanet!AccordingtoastudybytheBritishCouncil,Singaporeanshavethefastestwalkingspeed.Onaverage,wecanwalkabout6.15kminanhour! 7.TheyoungestpersontopasstheGCE‘O’LevelChemistrypaperintheworldisaSingaporean.AinanCelesteCawleywasonly7yearsand1montholdwhenhetooktheGCE‘O’LevelChemistrypaperandpassed,makinghimtheyoungestintheworldtodoso.Kudostohim! 8.Gasp!There’sanotherSingaporeintheWorld!SingaporeisalsothenameofoneofMichigan’sfamousghosttowns. 9.Besidesourmainisland,thenationofSingaporeincludes63othertinyislands.Mostoftheseislandsareuninhabited.(Picturebelow:KusuIsland) 10.Singaporeisamongthe20smallestcountriesintheworld,withatotallandareaofonly682.7squarekilometers.Togiveyoucontext,USAisabout15,000timesbigger. 11.Singaporebecamethe117thmemberoftheUnitedNationson21September1965. 12.Everwonderedwhatthesymbolsonournationalflagrepresent?Redsymbolisesuniversalbrotherhoodandequalityofmanwhilewhitesignifiespurityandvirtue.Thecrescentmoonrepresentsayoungnationontheriseandthefivestarssignifytheidealsofdemocracy,peace,progress,justiceandequality. 13.ThenationalflowerofSingapore,VandaMissJoaquim,wasfirstdiscoveredin1893byAgnesJoaquim,anArmenian. 14.TheMerlion,ahalf-fish,half-lionbeast,isafittingsymbolofSingapore.Here’swhy–The“Singa”orlionrepresentstheanimalthatSangNilaUtamasaw(seepoint3above),andthefishisatributetoSingapore’shistoryas“Temasek”,anancientseatown. RelatedRead:HowManyMerlionsAreThereInSingapore 15.OurlocalblendofSinglishisactuallyprettywell-knowninternationally.Weevenhavetwowords–lahandsinseh –intheonlineversionoftheOxfordEnglishDictionary. 16.Theflyingfox,theworld’slargestbatwithawingspanofupto1.5metres,canbefoundonPulauUbin,oneoftheislandsoffthemainland. 17.Theworld’sfirstnightzoo,TheNightSafari,islocatedinSingapore. 18.Despiteourrelativelackoffarmlandandagriculture,Singaporeisthelargestexporterofornamentalfish(contributingto25%oftheworldmarket). 19.TheBukitTimahNatureReserveinSingaporecontainsmorespeciesoftreesthantheentireNorthAmericancontinent. 20.ThehighestnaturalpointinSingaporeisBukitTimahHill–whichisonly164metreshigh. 21.BuildingsinSingaporecannotbehigherthan280metres.Therearepresentlythreebuildingsofthatheight:OUBCentre,UOBPlazaandRepublicPlaza. 22.ThelargestfountainintheworldisrighthereinSingaporeattheheartofSuntecCity.ItcostanestimatedUS$6milliontobuildin1997. 23.ThetowersinSuntecCityhavebeenbuiltintheshapeofapalmofahandsymbolisinggood“fengshui”. 24.Since1987,Singapore’sChangiAirporthasconsistentlywontheawardfor“BestAirportinAsia”fromTheAsianFreightandSupplyChainAwards2014.That’s28consecutiveyears! 25.TheGuinnessbookrecordforthelongesthumandominochainwassetinSingaporeon30thSeptember2000.Formedby9,234students,itmeasured4.2km. 26.Therecordforthebiggestevergameofpass-the-parcelwassetinSingaporeon28February1998.Itinvolved3,918studentsremoving2,200wrappersfroma1.5x1.5x0.5mparcel.Thatmust’vebeensomepackage! 27.InMay2002,therecordforthemostnumberofpeopleparticipatinginlinedancingwassetinSingapore–with11,967dancers. 28.ThefastestsellingbookofalltimeinSingaporeisHelloChokTong,GoodbyeKuanYew:TheUntoldStory.WrittenanddrawnbypoliticalcartoonistGeorgeNonis,itsold40,000copiesintwomonths.Timetogetyourhandsonacopy! 29.RussellLee,apseudonymforateamofghost-writers,isthehottest-sellinglocalauthorinSingapore.Their11volumesofTrueSingaporeGhostStorieshavesoldmorethan600,000copiestodate. 30.ThehighestgrossingmovieofalltimeinSingapore(before2014)isAvatar,whichbroughtinS$10.65millionin2009. 31.ThefirstSingaporeanfilmtobeshownattheCannesFilmFestivalwasdirectorEricKhoo’s12Storeysin1997. 32.IloIlo(Chinese:爸妈不在家),thedebutfeatureofdirectorAnthonyChen,isthefirstSingaporeanfeaturefilmtobeawardedtheCamerad’OrawardattheCannesFilmFestivalin2013.IntotalIloIlohasreceived21awardsand10nominationsaroundtheworld,makingitthemostcriticallyacclaimedfilminthehistoryofSingaporeancinema. 33.ViolinistVanessaMaeNicholson,knownforthepopmusicsheweavesonherelectricviolin,wasborninSingaporeandmovedtoEnglandwhenshewasfour. 34.MoreSingaporeansareborninthemonthofOctoberthananyothermonthoftheyear. 35.ThemostcommonChinesesurnamesinSingaporeareTan,LimandLee. 36.Singaporehasmorethan3,000kilometresofroads.Stretchedoutendtoend,theywouldcoverthedistancefromSingaporetoHongKong. 37.80%ofSingaporeansowncellphones.Infact,manyworkingprofessionalsowntwo–oneforpersonaluseandoneforwork-relatedmatters. 38.SwimmerAngPengSiongwasrankedworldnumberoneinthe50mFreestylein1982. 39.TheSingaporeSlingwasfirstserveduptoguestsattheLongBaroftheRafflesHotelin1915.Theingredientsaregin,Cointreau,cherrybrandy,DomBenedictine,pineapplejuice,Grenadine,Angousturabittersandlimes. 40.ThenationallanguageofSingaporeisMalay,notEnglish!Thenationalanthem(MajulahSingapura)ofthecountryiswrittenonthislanguage.InSingapore,thefourofficiallanguagesareEnglish,Chinese,Tamil,andMalay. 41.Singaporeisoneoftheworld’sleadersinthenumberofdeathsentencesmetedout(mostlytodrugdealers). 42.Singaporeisamemberofthegroup“EastAsianTigers”,alongwithSouthKorea,TaiwanandHongKong,becauseallthesecountrieshaveexperiencedhugeeconomicgrowthinthepastfewdecades. 43.DespitethefactthatSingaporeisoftenreferredtoasa“concretejungle”,thetruthisthatthereisanabundanceofgreeneryinalmosteveryareaofthecity.AlmosthalfoftheterritoryofSingaporeiscoveredbyvegetation! 44.Nearly9outof10Singaporeansliveinpublichousing. 45.ThelargesttropicalorchidgardenintheworldisfoundinNationalOrchidGardeninSingaporeBotanicGardens. 46.In2015,SingaporeBotanicGardenswashonoredasaUNESCOWorldHeritage.ItisthefirsttropicalandonlythethirdbotanicgardensontheUNESCOWorldHeritagelisting.ThiswasannouncedduringSingapore’s50thyearofindependence. 47.2016markedSingapore’sfirstOlympicGoldmedal.On12August2016,inRiodeJaneiro,21-year-oldJosephSchoolingwonagoldmedalinthe100mbutterflywithatimeof50.39seconds,thefirstOlympicgoldmedalwonbySingapore. 48.Inthesameyear,ParalympicswimmerYipPinXiuearnedanewworldrecordinthe2016Paralympics,earningheragoldmedal.Shewentontowinhersecondgoldmedalofthe2016Gamesinthe50mbackstroke. 49.TheoldNationalLibraryatStamfordRoad,closeditsdoorson31March2004tomixedviews.ButanumberofoldbricksfromtheoldbuildingareinthenewbuildingatVictoriaStreet. Here’sanextrafunfacttoaddtothelist! 50.Thenewly-openedNationalStadiumhasaretractableroofthatnotonlykeepsouttherain,butalsodoublesupasagiantprojectorscreen.Itcovers95%oftheseats,takesabout20minutestoopenorclose,andismadeofacutting-edgeweather-resistantmaterialthatblocksoutthesun’sraysaswellasraindrops. Note:Listcompiledin2014 ByDorotheaChow Share: Tweet Pinterest FeaturedVideo RegisteryourchildnowforourEnglishenrichmentcourseshere! YouMightAlsoLike: 28PlacesToCatchNationalDayParadeFireworks 5FunNationalDayCraftsYouCanDoWithYourKids 7WaysToCelebrateNationalDayWithYourFamily ForgingCultureAndNationalIdentityInOurChildren RememberingThe‘Old’Singapore SingaporeKid-FriendlyRestaurants FarmsInSingapore 13Singapore’sOldPlaygroundsToVisit JohoreBattery@ChangiSingapore–MonsterGuns MOESchoolHolidays2020Singapore 14NewOrRevampedPlacesToGoInSingapore2019 Top10IndoorChildrenPlaygroundsInSingapore LeaveaComment: SubscribeWithUs FeaturedVideo RegisteryourchildnowforourEnglishenrichmentcourseshere! 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